Kingdom Come
by Sarabibliomania
Summary: It whistled when it moved past her. A sharp sound that only I could pick up on. When she would creep up behind me with the whistle in the air and I turned fast enough to grab her by the throat and pin her to the dirt. She was fast. But I was strong.


Disclaimer: My last Cato and Clove fic was well received and so I thought I'd give it a shot at writing another. The song Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars always reminded me of them and I thought I'd incorporate it into the story though I apologize if some lyrics are wrong every site I went to had different ones. Hope you all enjoy and I own nothing.__

Run, run, run away

She was always faster then I was. When we sprinted across the frozen dirt with the ice crystallized in her braids like someone had frosted her with icing and let the sugar melt. She was always a few steps ahead, a breath away, a heartbeat faster.

_Buy yourself another day_

It's why she was good. She was fast. The air moved around her, cut across her like it made no difference that she was there or not. It had to wait for me. The world had to move out of my step and that took longer. Made me slower. Not fast enough.

_A cold wind's whispering secrets in your ear_

It whistled when it moved past her. A sharp sound that only I could pick up on. When she would creep up behind me with the whistle in the air and I turned fast enough to grab her by the throat and pin her to the dirt. She was fast. But I was strong.

_So low only you could hear_

She would always catch the others by surprise. Silent and quick and with a deadly touch that forced them into the dirt with a knife to their pulse and a dark glint in her eyes. Only I would hear her coming. Only I could stumble her steps and hold her silent with her pulse so hot and quick against my hands that it made me dizzy.

_Run, run, run and hide_

It's why I thought she would win. Silent and quick through the forest and all the places they couldn't find her. All the places where she could hide.

_Somewhere no one else can find_

I wanted her to hide. Wanted her to find a safe place and wait in silent terror for whoever crossed her path. Where I could know where she was hidden. Where I knew she was safe.

_Tall trees bend their leaves pointing where to go_

I could find her still. Silent in where she hid and where I knew she was safe. Where I could take out the others until my hands were slick with blood and she would sink them into the icy water and wash the red from the cracks in my palm. The hands that she held when no one else could see. Like the blood she had washed when we had trained. But their blood. Not mine.

_Where you will still be all alone_

The world didn't notice her. It made its past around her. Didn't stop to consider that she stood there. It stopped for me. It held its breath for me. And I held my breath for her.

_Don't you fret my dear_

It's what I told her when she found me bloody by the water. The bruises I couldn't stop broken on my skin. Curled along my back and pinpricked on my spine. _Don't you fret my dear. _It was our little joke. Our endearment. I lay bathed in my own blood and she would wash it clean.

_It'll all be over soon_

It was her words in reply. Soon I would be strong enough. Soon I could fight back. Soon it wouldn't be my blood that she washed but his. The taste of iron on my tongue sweeter when it wasn't mine.

_I'll be waiting here_

I always waited for her. Waiting for when training ended and I could hear the whistle of her coming up behind me. I let her get closer each time. Another step. Another breath. Another heartbeat. But then I'd turn and pin her and for a moment I could feel her pulse and for a moment all I'd know was dizziness.

_For you_

It was my answer. For every question. For any cause or for any game. No other reasoning or explanation. Just two words that rested too heavily on my tongue until they burned their imprint. For you.__

Run fast as you can

It's what I told her at the cornucopia. Run. Forget the supplies. Forget the tributes. Forget me. Just run. I'll find you. I'll always find you.

_No one else has to understand_

No one else understood it. What we had. The friendship. The alliance. The dance in my stomach and the stunt in my heartbeats when I heard her name. When I heard the whistle and felt her move. It was us. It was ours. She was mine. I was hers.

_Fly high across the sky from here to kingdom come_

I once told her that the stars were spirits of those who died before us. That they watched us in envy and hatred for the crimes they saw us commit. The screams we encouraged. The blood we spilt.

_Fall back down to where you're from_

They were silent up there. Cold. Alone. Frozen half way between two moments with no urgency to the next. No whistle. No step ahead. No breath. No heart beat. No sudden movement of a pin and a dizziness of a pulse.

_Don't you fret my dear_

Her fingers were always hesitate on my hands. The paleness of her skin a shock against the blood. It was the only time she looked unsure. When there was no whistle because she moved too slow. When she wasn't fast and I wasn't strong. When she was measured and I was weak.

_It'll all be over soon_

She said it quieter each time. More hushed and more a whisper. More silent until her lips barely moved. When I kissed them so I could taste the whistle. The breath. The heartbeat. When I was the pulse and she was the dizziness.

_I'll be waiting here for you_

She didn't listen. When I told her to run and hide she stayed. A whistle only I could hear silent as she stayed her pace with her braids snapped in the sharpness of her movement. Not quick. Not silent.

_For you, for you_

She didn't listen. She didn't run. She didn't hide. She stayed. Stayed with me and by my side with the answer that needed no words and the words that needed no reasoning. The answer to every question. Every cause. Every game. For you.

_Don't you fret my dear_

It's what I wanted to say to her. The words I couldn't make myself say as the wind danced her hair over my fingers and her eyelashes brushed my palm. There was no blood. No stain to wash away just an imprint on her skin that no gentle touch or wash of water could make go away.

_It'll all be over soon_

The trace of the words were on her lips and I touched them to taste what I couldn't hear. The steps before me had gone heavy and the ones after were left empty. The breath had gone silent. The heart beat that went still. The whistle that had faded.

_I'll be waiting here_

It's what I said to her. The last words she tasted on my lips as I knew it was all waiting. I was a spirit in the stars though she was the one that was gone. I had gone silent. Frozen between the moment when I last kissed her and the moment when I could again. I was silent. I was alone.

_Don't you fret my dear_

It's what I said to him as my hands went slick with his blood. When his skull crushed under my hands and the rock that cut jagged into my palm. It was my little joke. My own endearment. There was no one else to hear. No one to understand or to reply. No touch to wash my hands or reply to stay my heart. I was alone.

_It'll all be over soon_

Her memory spoke it to me when the mutts tore at my flesh. When their teeth broke my bones and the strength of their limbs shattered across my skin that no touch of fingers or wash of water could fix. Only a memory that I heard through my silence. A whisper I could taste on my lips that ended with a whistle that only I could hear.

_I'll be waiting here for you  
For you, For you  
Run, run, run away  
Run, run, run away ...  
_


End file.
